Smartphones Boast Highest Average Order Values; iOS Leads All Devices

The average order value (AOV) of smartphone traffic to online retailer websites in Q2 2012 was $97.39, slightly higher than that of tablet traffic ($96.11), and also outpacing traditional devices ($91.86), according to [download page] an August report from Monetate, which analyzed a random sample of more than 100 million online shopping experiences, using same-store data from the previous quarter. The smartphone AOV of $97.39 represents a step down from $104.96 in Q1, meaning that the AOV gap has narrowed with tablets, which saw a comparatively smaller drop in AOV from Q1 to Q2.

Apple Users Spend More

Data from Monetate’s “Ecommerce Quarterly EQ2 2012” indicates that iOS users spend more than than other platforms across each device measured. In the smartphone category, iPhone traffic to e-commerce websites had an AOV of $97.49, beating out both Android ($97.16) and Windows ($92.45) phones. This was the first quarter (of the 4 examined dating back to Q3 2011) that iPhone users had sported the highest AOVs.

In the tablet category, iPad traffic generated an AOV of $96.80, compared to $95.81 for Android tablets and $84.56 for the Kindle fire. This was also the first time in which iOS had risen to the top during the 4-quarter reporting period. And for traditional devices, the AOV for Mac ($102.83) far outperformed that of Windows ($88.75) and Linux ($84.91).

This latest data appears to contradict earlier findings from RichRelevance, which revealed in an April 2012 study that the AOV for iPads ($158) in Q1 was more than 50% higher than for other iOS devices ($104) and other mobile devices ($105), and also outpaced AOV on desktops and laptops ($153). The Monetate report indicates instead that in Q1, the AOV for iPads ($96.68) was slightly higher than for traditional devices ($95.41), but far below that of smartphones ($104.96).

iPad Share of Traffic Declines Y-O-Y

Despite the Monetate report showing that the iPad had the highest AOVs in Q2, not all the news was positive for Apple on this front, as the iPad’s share of traffic showed a marked decline from a year earlier. In Q2 2011, the iPad accounted for 98.46% of tablet traffic to the websites measured, with Android holding the remaining 1.54% share. By Q2 of this year, though, iPad’s share had fallen to 88.31%, a more than 10% point drop, with Android (6.58%) and Kindle Fire (5.31%) picking up the slack.

Overall, the tablet share of traffic rose to 7.24% in Q2, from 6.12% the previous quarter, and just 2.26% the previous year. Smartphone share of traffic also increased, to 8.84%, from 6.06% in Q1, and 4.27% in Q2 2011.

Shoppers on Android-powered phones (1.26%) converted best of all smartphones, ahead of shoppers on Windows phones (1.02%) and the iPhone (1%).

The iPhone accounted for 61.19% of smartphone traffic in Q2, up from 56.82% in Q1. Android’s share of smartphone traffic dropped to 37.46%, from 41.82% the previous quarter, and down from a high of 46.14% in Q4 2011.

The iPhone contributed 5.41% of total website traffic in Q2, up from 3.44% the previous quarter and 2.25% in Q4.